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32-year-old Chicago resident Jeremy Brown’s funeral recently sparked controversy as an attendee wore a t-shirt with his picture and “knockout king” written on it. He was shot by a 14-year-old on June 18, 2023, and died from three bullet wounds on his back. The incident took place after Jeremy punched the teen’s mother, Carlisha Hood, at a hot dog stand.
Photos from Jeremy’s funeral started going viral on social media on June 30. YouTuber Nique at Nite uploaded a video where she elaborated on the situation. It was shown that the woman who wore the “knockout king” t-shirt is a family member of Jeremy Brown, who goes by the name Sade Shadoo on Instagram.
Though Sade went private on the app after the backlash. Nique shared the screenshot of her Instagram story and the video Sade posted in response to the online criticism. In the video, Sade glorified that Jeremy Brown was known as the "knockout king" and glamorized his abusive behavior. In the other story, Sade eulogized Jeremy had knocked out hundreds of people before he died.
As expected, Sade, Jeremy Brown, and his family recieved backlash from the online community. One person, @sheryl9568, commented on Nique's YouTube video and wrote that the family member wearing the t-shirt had no class and lacked morals.
Netizens react to "knockout king" t-shirt at Jeremy Brown's funeral
The viral photo prompted heated reactions from people on social media. While a funeral is supposed to be an event where friends, family, and community members usually gather to pay their last respects to the deceased, Jeremy Brown’s family chose to remember him as the “knockout king.”
People were furious at the fact that his family was okay with him beating women. Many people in the Black community were ashamed of Jeremy Brown, his family, and their justification and glorification of physical assault. They found the family problematic and said that Carlisha Hood’s 14-year-old son did a good job taking the “demon” out.
Carlisha Hood and her son walked out free as charges were dropped
Murder charges against Carlisha Hood and her 14-year-old son were dropped after their initial court hearing. A statement was released by the Cook County Prosecutors on June 26, 2023, where it was stated that the decision to drop the charges had been made backed by the emerging evidence.
Irv Miller, a legal analyst, said that any criminal charges, or murder charges in this case, should have never been approved. Miller explained that one has the right to use deadly force to counter-resist another force, which is exactly what happened in Carlisha Hood’s case when her son shot Jeremy Brown to stop him from punching her. He added:
"This goes beyond an injustice. Frankly, it's a miscarriage of justice as to what happened to this woman and her son. It's a situation where either the charges should have been rejected, or at the very minimum they should have been continued for investigation, rather than just, you know, say, 'Okay, murder charge. Send them to court.'"
The attorney at the Cook County State’s press release stated that the attorney’s office has moved to dismiss the murder charges against Hood and her son. It added that based on the evidence, facts, and the law, they could not meet the proof required to prosecute the case.
